About

Darren Choate

I was born in Colorado but have resided in Arizona for over 45 years. Growing up in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona provided me with the stage to become an ethical sportsman, conservationist, and outdoorsman. – DARREN CHOATE

BIO

Darren Choate was born in a small town in northwest Colorado. His family moved several times during his early years, including stints in Colorado, Utah, and ultimately, Arizona. In the late 70s, his family moved to Round Valley, Arizona, a small community in the White Mountains. His formative years, from fifth grade through high school graduation, were spent in a rural community surrounded by thousands of square miles of forest and wilderness, providing the stage for him to become an ethical sportsman, conservationist, and outdoorsman. Choate has called Arizona home for over 45 years.

After graduating from high school, Choate served a four-year tour as an airman in the U.S. Air Force, stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska. While living in Alaska, his enjoyment of the outdoors expanded to include overnight trips into the remote reaches of the Last Frontier. After an honorable discharge, Choate returned to Arizona to attend Northern Arizona University, earning a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Education. Most of his professional career was spent as a service professional at Northern Arizona University. 

Later in life, Choate turned his passion for freelance writing and photography into a new career path. In 2011, he founded a digital magazine, Western Whitetail. Eventually, he took a position with Grandview Outdoors, where he held the editor-in-chief role for consumer titles, including Whitetail Journal, Bowhunting World, and Predator Xtreme, as well as B2B titles Hunting Retailer and Archery Business. Currently, Choate is the Digital Editorial Director for Outdoor Sportsman Group. He is a voting member and proud supporter of the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA). Additionally, he advocates and supports several sportsmen’s organizations.

Choate has a passion for hunting and enjoys writing about his experiences. His articles have been featured online and in magazines for brands including Petersen’s Hunting, North American Whitetail, Bowhunting World, Whitetail Journal, Predator Xtreme, Western Hunter, Quality Whitetails, Cabela’s Outfitter Journal, Fur-Fish-Game, and Game & Fish.

Choate and his wife, of 35+ years, have two grown sons and several fur babies. The happily married couple resides in Arizona.

Entrepreneur, Educator, Editor, Writer, & Photographer

A motivated, goal-oriented professional with 25+ years of experience forming effective teams to develop, write, edit, and manage content for software, educational, digital, multi-media, inter-media, and print products.

  • Proudly served our country as an Airman in the USAF.
  • Developed a life-cycle production model to produce high-quality content efficiently for multi-platform dissemination.
  • Co-patented an educational delivery model to assess knowledge used primarily in healthcare software publications.
  • Directed a multi-disciplinary training and testing program at a state university.
  • Performed Editor-In-Chief role for five print titles in both B2B and consumer markets.
  • Designed the original editorial content package for the B2B publication, Hunting Retailer.
  • Programmed a WordPress plug-in-driven sales tracking application.
  • Founded DRCMedia, with services including web development, business operations, strategy, marketing, and digital content creation.
  • Founded Western Whitetail, comprising a digital magazine, blog, Vlog, social media channels, and apparel sales.
  • Co-founded and acted as the COO of Toy Storage Nation, a media brand advocating for the RV storage industry.
  • Provided oversight of multi-million dollar projects and programs efficiently and effectively.
  • Direct the creation, curation, and dissemination of digital content for the Hunt, Shoot, and Fish verticals of Outdoor Sportsman Group brands.

CORE COMPETENCIES

#Leadership #Editing #Writing #Photography #ContentManagement #WebDevelopment #SoftwareDevelopment #Multimedia #Budgets #P&L #BrandDevelopment #LifeCycleProduction #BusinessPlanning #BusinessStrategy #SocialMediaMarketing #InstructionalDesign #EmailMarketing #DigitalContent #SEO #SEM #HTML #AdobeCreativeSuite #MicrosoftOffice #WordPress #TeamFostering #DiverseTeams #AIEfficiency

VOTING MEMBER